


marry the night

by starblessed



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Sleeptalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starblessed/pseuds/starblessed
Summary: Joe has a secret, and it comes out at the worst possible time.
Relationships: Joseph Liebgott/David Kenyon Webster
Comments: 3
Kudos: 83





	marry the night

**Author's Note:**

> Of course, the characters in this fic are based off of their fictional portrayals from the miniseries Band of Brothers, and I mean no disrespect to the real-life veterans!
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [renelemaires](http://renelemaires.tumblr.com/)!

This is starting to become a habit, David thinks on the third night he is woken up to the sound of murmuring next to him.  
  
He’s always been a light sleeper to begin with, a mixture of insomnia and an overactive brain making sure that he doesn’t catch as much rest as he’d like. When he does sleep, his dreams are visceral, vivid, and rare. Most of the time David simply drifts in a light sort of doze, able to be disturbed by any noise, until he finally falls asleep in the mid-hours of the morning. Getting himself out of bed is invariably hell, no matter how much sleep he may or may not get.  
  
Muttered words from the body next to him is just the sort of distraction David needs to coax him wide awake.

He sighs, turning on his side to face his boyfriend’s sleeping form. Joe is exactly his opposite. He sleeps like a rock, tranquil and dead to the world, until his alarm wakes him in the morning. He never talks about his dreams, but David is sure he has them; Joe always looks too content in his sleep to be thinking of nothing.  
  
His newfound habit of sleeptalking is he only indication David gets as to what runs through his boyfriend’s head at night. Listening maybe isn’t fair, but he can’t help being intrigued.  
  
“Wan… wanna tell you…”  
  
“Tell me what, _liebling?”_ David asks, knowing his words will not wake Joe up.  
  
“Wanna… hmm…” Joe scrunches his nose, like he’s thinking hard, before his face falls back into that peaceful default. There’s a smile on his lips, David realizes, faint but present.  
  
He’s just starting to smile back when Joe speaks up again. “Marry me…”  
  
Just like that, David’s heart plunges to the pit of his stomach. “What?”  
  
“Wan – wan’ you… t’ marry me.”  
  
Joe lets out an exhale and buries his face in his pillow, blissfully unaware of the words that just passed his lips. Heart racing, David turns on his other side to stare at the wall with wide eyes.  
  
There’s a photo of him and Joe hanging next to the window. Joe is making a face, while David has an arm around his waist. They look happy, and utterly domestic. _Married._  
  
Well, there go David’s hopes of getting back to sleep tonight.

* * *

The next few days are awkward, to say the least.

David can’t bring himself to look Joe in the eye. Being around him makes him antsy, anxiety bubbling within him like a pot on boil. At every silent moment, he’s convinced Joe is about to make his move.  
  
And he’s… terrified. It’s not that he doesn’t want to marry Joe, or that he’s repulsed by the idea – it just scares the hell out of him. The thought of his boyfriend getting down on one knee and popping the question is more than exhilarating, but David just can’t imagine it happening.  
  
He’d always imagined that Joe – Joseph Liebgott, the same Liebgott who scorned convention and who laughed at couples kissing on the street, who mocked wedding ring commercials and rolled his eyes through any on-screen marriages – wasn’t ready to think about engagement. The only reason David never asked him – though the thought occurred to him more than a few times – was that he was convinced Joe would never say yes.  
  
Having Joe all but propose to him in his sleep, however? _That’s_ a game changer.  
  
He tries to tell himself it was only a dream. Joe was just having a dream about marriage, that’s all, it doesn’t mean _anything_ – and he’s able to believe this until he finds a tiny black box in Joe’s underwear drawer. (He refuses to admit he was snooping, though on any other day David avoids laundry like the plague.)  
  
After that, David _freaks out._  
  
He avoids all opportunities to be alone with Joe. He dodges conversations, hems and haws through simple questions, just to keep Joe away or keep him occupied. The thought of those four little words leaving Joe’s mouth makes the world reel around him. Maybe David is the one who’s not ready. He doesn’t give the reasons why much thought. All he knows is that he cannot be alone with Joe.  
  
He gets away with this for about a week before Joe decides he’s has enough.  
  
“Web.”  
  
He corners him in the bathroom, a toothbrush hanging out of David’s mouth, half of his face still filled with shaving cream. He gapes at Joe like a deer in the headlights before slowly leaning over and spitting into the sink.  
  
“Hi,” he says.  
  
Joe leans across the door frame, crossing his arms in that way he has when he’s pissed, but also a little worried, and isn’t sure how much of each emotion to show. David tightens the towel around his waist, swallowing back the lump of anxiety in his throat. Straightening up takes all his dignity.  
  
“Web,” he says again, “what the hell is going on?”  
  
“I don’t know what you –”  
  
“Why have you been avoiding me?”  
  
Quick and to the point – typical of Liebgott. David feels some of his willpower shrivel up and die, replaced by shame. Of course Joe’s noticed, and of course he’s hurt by it.  
  
There’s no point in lying. He has to tell the truth – Joe deserves that much.  
  
“I just don’t – I’m just not sure –” He swallows hard before spitting it out. “When you’re going to ask me to marry you.”  
  
Joe straightens up so quickly it’s like he’s been electrified.  
  
“What?” he demands. “Who told you that.”  
  
“You did, actually… in your sleep.” David winces at the dawning expression of horror on Joe’s face. “It probably wasn’t as romantic as what you had planned…”  
  
For a long second, Joe doesn’t say a word – he just gapes at him, like he’s suddenly started speaking in a different language. Then, slowly, his hands rise to his face. “Dammit,” mutters Joe into his palms; then again, more urgently, _“Dammit.”_  
  
“It’s okay,” David ventures, but Joe shakes his head.  
  
“It’s freaking not! I ruined it for myself – I ruined it for you! I mean, fuck! How much of a dumbass do I have to be? And then _you,_ you’ve been all freaked out, no wonder – do you even _want_ to marry me?”  
  
“Yes! Of course! ” exclaims David, without needing a second to think about it. Then it occurs to him that he may have just accepted Joe’s proposal right there.  
  
The same thought must occur to Joe, because he reels away like David bit him. “No, we’re not doing this like this! I’m gonna do this right!”  
  
“It’s really okay –”  
  
_“Romantic!”_ Joe exclaims, looking furious. “It’s gonna be _fucking_ romantic.”  
  
“You don’t have to –”  
  
“I’ll do it right, I promise!” Joe exclaims – and then runs out of the room. David is left staring after him, bemused and bewildered, unsure just what to make of his boyfriend’s strange resolution.  
  
Well, at least they know one thing for sure – David wants to marry Joe as much as Joe apparently wants to marry him. That’s the heart of any true proposal, right?  
  
Anything after that can go from there. No matter what Joe comes up with, it will be something from his heart, and David couldn’t ask for anything better than that.

* * *

  
_He proposes to Webster at the aquarium, at a special “Marine Life At Night” exhibition. In the middle of the dark venue, with the neon-lit jelly fish swimming all around them, David is so focused on the venue that he doesn’t even notice until Joe tugs on his arm.  
  
“I’m doing this right this time,” Joe declares. When he pulls out a ring, David feels his heart stop. “Web, will you marr–”  
  
He doesn’t get the chance to finish. David’s heard the proposal before, after all. His lips pressed to Joe’s, fierce and jubilant, are all the answer they need._


End file.
